Required Reading: Letter 16: On Philosophy, The Guide Of Life
“No man can live a happy life, or even a supportable life, without the study of Wisdom.”
Damn it! Herein lies the answer to the questions of life! Read that quote again! Analyze it, memorize it, impute it in the core of your spirit! The Study of Wisdom is Supreme to any thing Chance; Fortune, the Universe throws at you! Without Philosophy, one is doomed to make decisions based on impulse; feelings that are often times misleading. We have a perfect Guide; a perfect tool to aid us on our every road!
As I read the Seneca’s letter, it reads so much like he was one of the authors of that great book; the Bible; the manner of speech; the writing style; the innuendos is akin to the glorious writer of the character Paul in many of his letters. Yet, I might be getting ahead of myself; for the literature of the Bible is so full of wisdom, it calls relentlessly on man’s search for living according to nature.
Seneca once more warns against putting our hope in riches and staying grounded in curbing desires and wants in contrast to nature’s demands which are sparse; he describes such a scenario of one coming into immense wealth so massive that they could be classified as one of our current Billionaire class; yet he warns that “such things crave still greater.” There must be a “stopping point” on this road to success; if we measure success in dollars of course.
Worry not about who controls the universe and if he or she or it already has your life pre-determined; so it becomes fruitless to even consider the beauty of wisdom. That is not your place to think of such matters; the study of wisdom in itself puts a hedge around you to make you be at peace to whatever good or ill comes your way. For it is fruitless infact; imbecilic, to live your life by Chance! It must be rooted daily in the study of wisdom! For no man can live a “happy life, or even a suportable life without the study of wisdom!” Farewell.
Word of the day:
Tedium (noun): state of being tedious; boredom; monotony, ennui, dreariness, routine (The Oxford American Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus 2nd Edition).
Quotations:
“Philosophy is no trick to catch the public; it is not devised for show.”
“She will encourage us to obey God cheerfully, but Fortune defiantly; she will teach us to follow God and endure Chance.”
“If you live according to nature, you will never be poor; if you live according to opinion, you will never be rich” – Epicurus.
“Nature’s wants are slight; the demands of opinion are boundless.”
“Natural desires are limited; but those which spring from false opinion can have no stopping-point.”
“The false has no limits. When you are traveling on a road, there must be an end; but when astray, your wanderings are limitless.”
“It is more important to keep the resolutions you have already made than to go on and make noble ones.” -Linius Africanus.
Questions:
1) Do you keep adding new desires? Have you kept the ones you made this year; this month, week, today?
2) Do you have a current guide for your life? Do you talk to it, say it, read it, study it, reflect upon it daily?
3) Are you beginning to have peace of mind; some degree of hope as you read and study Philosophy?
Activities:
1) Write ten resolutions you have for this year. They do not have to be new; write things you have wanted to do; still do etc.
2) Write down your ‘ideal’ occupation – what could you be happy, busy doing most of the day to contribute to your life, your family’s, friends, community and the world even if you were being paid or not.
3) Write down the steps you can currently think off that it will take to make this happen. Can you accomplish this in two years? If not, STOP IT!
